In bowling establishments it is common practice to hide the automatic pinsetters from the view of the bowler with a vertical panel having an artistic design thereon, the lower edge of which is positioned approximately two feet above bowling lane. Such panels are commonly referred to as masking units, a name which generally applies not only to the masking panel itself but also to the structure which supports the panel.
The masking panels are typically positioned close to the front edge of the pin deck and therefore close to the front of the pinsetter. So positioned, they block access to equipment containing microprocessors and other electronic controls which are now frequently mounted to the front of the pinsetters. Therefore, some means of moving the panel to provide access to the front of the pinsetter installation is highly desirable. In the past, an attempt to provide such access was to mount the panel so that it could be rotated to a horizontal position by lifting the front of the panel, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,129 assigned to Brunswick Corporation. However, this structure did not provide clear access to the front of the pinsetter. The present invention is directed to overcoming this and other problems associated with masking units of past designs.